During this years annual E3, Deep Silver came out of left field with the surprise announcement of Dead Island: Riptide. Aside from a logo, platform specifications, and a trailer due out over the summer no other details have been shared. As curious as I am, I decided to dig for more information.

Online retailers have the game listed for $49.99. With that said, many gamers have been wondering if the next installment is simply a remake with new characters, weapons and skill trees, similar to Capcom‘s approach with Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. Dead Island fans fear not, Deep Silver’s very own Aubrey Norris has squashed any concerns with the matter confirming to me via Twitter. When asked about the pricing point being possible due to a remake, she shot it down and explained why.

“It is a new game. Not a remake.”

She ended with:

“That’s not a placeholder :) that’s the real price! It’s the end of a console cycle- we think this price makes a lot more sense given that :)”

With no release date given, I’d suspect the game will be due out in 2013. With the lowered price point due to “the end of a console cycle,” this could very well mean the next generation of consoles isn’t far off as big companies like Microsoft and Sony claim.